Activities of Daily Living: Change the World By Making Your Bed? Activities of daily living may seem like a small thing. But it’s the small things that make the biggest difference. Small Decisions Made Me Get Behind I’ve gotten behind in writing posts for this blog. It started when I was training for another Chicago Marathon. This year it was toward the beginning of October. I started telling myself, “I’ve got so much training to do, I’ve got this to do, and I’ve got that to do.” And now it’s been about three weeks since my last podcast episode or blog post! “How will I ever get back into the groove?,” I ask myself. It starts by sitting down at the computer and starting to type: a small action. Making Your Bed: An Illustration It’s the small things. Here’s an inspirational video of a speech by Admiral William McCraven. It’s called, “Changing the World By Making Your Bed.” I believe all of us, both spectrum and non-spectrum, can improve our quality of living by learnin...
You’ll agree with me, I hope, that autistic burnout is real. If you haven’t had a chance, please check out the Thrive with Aspergers podcast episode number 88, called 3 Reasons We Should Be Talking AboutAutistic Burnout. In this post, I’m sharing autistic writers’ tips for burnout recovery. What Is Autistic Burnout? It’s a term that I’ve heard come up in reading many different articles and forum posts. Karla’s ASD Pagehas a picture that illustrates some of the symptoms of burnout: * Late-onset loss of functioning due to sustained monumental efforts * Happens to MANY young ASD adults and many more all the way up into 50-60 years * Often directly related to failing at ‘fitting in’ with NT social skills despitefaking it all the time to make it * No ASD (autism spectrum) book or NT (neurotypical) professional references Autistic Burnout. Only ASD adults talk about it. Autistic Burnout Recovery Tips Tip 1: Burnout Does Not Equal Regression This is a reminder to teachers, parents...
If you’re reading this, and you’ve been feeling depressed, would you like some easy tips to help you feel better? In this article, I’m going to share 5 behavioral activation tips that are easy to use. If you work on this, either by yourself, or with a loved one, you’ll start to feel better. What is Behavioral Activation? And Why Should You Care? Think of yourself as a car. You’re a prime model, but you’re engine is cold from not being used in a long time. That’s what it’s like when we’re depressed. Things we used to enjoy doing no longer hold any pleasure. For example, we may stop hobbies (like video games, running, or hanging out with friends or family). We avoid responsibilities of daily living, like bathing, showering, paying bills, cleaning our house, or going to work. We remember when, like a car, we used to run effortlessly down the highway. But now, our engine is stalled. Behavioral activation is like jumper cables that can get our batteries started. Clinical psychol...
Integrative Health. Have you thought much about it? Well, if you live in one of 20 something states who have licensed naturopathic physicians, you’ll be familiar with it. In the Thrive Community a few weeks ago, several members were asking about holistic health tips. I then found out that one of our members, Greg Garoppolo, is completing his doctoral studies in naturopathic medicine. He graciously agreed to join me on the show. In This Episode, You’ll Learn: * about Greg’s work in the Portland area helping to coordinate a support group for employed autistic adults * Greg’s vision for better healthcare for the autism community * How Greg went from selling cars to doing medical research, and now to helping clients improve their health * Tip #1: Understand how Stress Can Undermine Your Diet * Understanding how sensory processing difficulties and emotional regulation challenges can lead to unhealthy diet choices * Tip #2: Keep a diet journal and record what you eat, how you feel emo...
It’s not every day that you find easy ways to change your life for the better. I first encountered James Swanick when I was listening to the Spartan Up Podcast. He talked about the fun and health benefits of giving up alcohol! I was intrigued. I’m not much of a drinker, but I have noticed that when I do drink some alcohol, I feel a bit “blah” a bit later. Then I found out that James has done a lot of research on sleep and its benefits. Health and sleep! You and I can change our lives for the better with better health and better sleep! Listen on to find out more! In This Episode: * James’ message about alcohol: you can go from good to great by taking his no alcohol challenge * James’ story about how he stopped drinking alcohol, and why he created the no alcohol challenge * What a glass of alcohol can do to you * The cycle of social drinking * The health benefits of abstinence from drinking * What’s blue light, and why should I avoid it at night? (And sometimes during the day?)...
“My burnout started at age 45 and ended up in complete collapse at age 47. My coworkers thought I was the same as usual; but my body was going through literal hell from not being able to relax. I often wished I could run screaming from the building, but I felt like I had no option. I think one thing that may be different about a person on the spectrum going through burnout, is they may have learned a social facade that can be carried into periods when they are horribly stressed.” ~Katie Mia What Is Autistic Burnout? It’s a term that I’ve heard come up in reading many different articles and forum posts. Karla’s ASD Page has a picture that illustrates some of the symptoms of burnout: * Late-onset loss of functioning due to sustained monumental efforts * Happens to MANY young ASD adults and many more all the way up into 50-60 years * Often directly related to failing at ‘fitting in’ with NT social skills despite faking it all the time to make it * No ASD (autism spectrum) book o...
How many spoons do you have in your drawer? Musings of an Aspie writer, Cynthia Kim, illustrated the spoon theory of disability by talking about a silverware drawer. Each spoon in the drawer represents your energy. As an Aspie, you may have limited capacity relating to social communication, using language, physical activity, sensory challenges, or executive function. Using too many spoons, representing your mental, physical and emotional resources, results in exhaustion and burnout. When talking about work and life balance in the autism community, I imagine the topic is as varied as there are people. But I would imagine the following scenario, expressed by one of the Thrive with Aspergers Facebook community members (with his permission) is not uncommon – “I have a battle waging in my head right now. The strong need for a regular income vs. the strong desire to be myself. It seems there is a black/white choice – either I have a regular income from a job I don’t really want, or I ...
Even though I grew up in the Amazon rainforest, I don’t have a lot of outdoors survival skills. When we’re feeling dull and uninspired, you may feel like I did when I tried to start a camping fire on many a camping trip. I’d put all the kindling together, build a nice stick structure, and try to get the fire going. But often, the wood was too wet, or there was too much wind, and after many unsuccessful attempts, I’d give up. How To Motivate Yourself: Like Starting a Fire? Maybe you’ve felt like I did with that campfire when trying to motivate yourself. Here’s what one person in our Thriver’s community recently said. “How do we stop ourselves from drifting aimlessly through life? I’m too good at too many different things, and I need to find some way to narrow down my direction in life.At this stage in life, most of my age peers are well established in their careers, etc, while I still find myself flitting from interest to interest. I’m interested in learning almost anything...
Gus Hardy, an autistic author, shared his story about another autistic friend from high school: I talked a year ago with an old friend from high school who shares my disorder but not my belief. My friend had attempted suicide, reasoning that “I’m not contributing anything to the world, and since we’re all screwing up the environment, I might as well not use up any more of the earth’s resources.” This friend could only see the world in terms of resources and expendability—with no mention of inherent worth or dignity. I still pray for her. Gus’s autistic friend’s suicide attempt unfortunately highlights a trend in the autistic community: suicidal thoughts and attempts. Aspergian author M. Kelter wrote about a studytalking about how two in every three Asperigan young and older adults struggle with suicidal thoughts. M. Kelter writes, One recent study found that two thirds of spectrum-diagnosed adults surveyed had contemplated suicide; 35 percent had actually made plans or an at...
Did you know that Thrive with Autism/Aspergers has its very own reporting team? Just kidding. Michael and Cici, from TWAP054 Happy Aspergers Marriage Secrets, attended AspieCon this year. And they graciously submitted their report of their time there. What Is AspieCon? According to their website, AspieConis everything you love about ComicCon combined with the best aspects of a community resource fair. It celebrates the incredibly diverse interests of people on the autism spectrum while also providing valuable resources and support for our awesome Aspies and Auties, their families, and their friends. Dr. Frank Gaskill and Southeastern Psych help organize this convention. What You’ll Learn Aspies sharing their world with the outside public Sensory free zones Panels included the following topics: * advanced cosplay techniques * what to expect in therapy * educational advocacy –how parents can navigate the educational systems via IEPs and help their child to take advantage of their sk...